Help ! Will you share memories or photos of old movie theatres of Toronto ?

                     Shea's Hippodrome 

I have placed many posts on this blog about the old movie houses of Toronto. In order to learn more of the the history of the theatres, I recently purchased a copy of “The Nabes – Toronto’s wonderful neighbourhood movies houses,” written by John Sebert. Because the book is out of print, it required a month for the bookstore to secure a copy, and it was a better price than on Amazon.com. The owner of the book shop stated that books about the old Toronto movie theatres are now as rare as the theatres themselves.

I have collected about thirty photos of theatres. Some are from my own collection, and others are from the City of Toronto Archives. A few are from from the Ontario Archives and the Toronto Reference Library. I have many fond memories of these theatres, and have begun writing them down. I would like to produce another book about these theatres. I thoroughly enjoyed “The Nabes,” but it only covers the neighbourhood theatres and does not include any of those that were downtown.

The above photo of Shea’s Hippodrome on Bay Street was taken from the rear window of the family Pontiac about 1959. The picture below was taken about 1959 as well, as it shows the 1956 film “Bus Stop.” It is also from my collection.

DSCN0638

Do you have any photos, black and white or in colour, of the old movie houses of Toronto that you are willing to share. If you do not have any photos, are you willing to share memories?  Saturday afternoon matinees, evening performance, movie clubs ? Please give your name and in which city you presently reside if you wish to have your name mentioned in the book. 

I can be contacted at [email protected]

To view the Home page for this blog and the names of other books that I have written: https://tayloronhistory.com/ 

To view previous blogs about the old movie houses of Toronto

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/06/27/old-movie-houses-of-toronto/

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/24/attending-the-movies-in-toronto-during-the-golden-age-of-cinema/

The Odeon Carlton theatre on Carlton St., east of Yonge St.

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/07/02/colour-photo-of-the-odeon-carlton-in-1956-a-marilyn-monroe-film-playing/

2011/07/02/colour-photo-of-the-odeon-carlton-in-1956-a-marilyn-monroe-film-playing/https://tayloronhistory.com/

The Victory burlesque and movie theatre on Spadina at Dundas:

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/09/08/the-sinful-victory-burlesque-theatre-at-dundas-and-spadina/

The Shea’s Hippodrome Theatre on Bay St. near Queen

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/07/04/sheas-hippodrome-theatre-where-the-nathan-phillips-square-exists-today/

https://tayloronhistory.com/2011/09/07/photographs-from-the-1950s-of-sheas-hippodrome-theatre-located-on-the-site-of-torontos-new-city-hall/

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/03/06/old-movie-houses-of-toronto-fond-memories-of-sheas-hippodrome/

Attending a matinee in the old movie houses of Toronto during the “golden age of cinema”

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/24/attending-a-movie-matinee-in-toronto-during-the-golden-age-of-cinema/

The University Theatre on Bloor St., west of Bay Street.

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/24/the-opening-of-torontos-university-theatre-on-bloor-street/

Archival photos of the Imperial and Downtown Theatres on Yonge Street

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/04/archival-photos-of-torontos-old-theatres-give-reality-to-historical-novel/

The Elgin/Winter/Garden Theatres on Yonge Street

https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/05/31/torontos-architectural-gemsthe-elgin-winter-garden-theatres/

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